


Unfinished Colouring Book

by ImaginationisKey996



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - After College/University, Kinda, M/M, Single Parents, dad!kihyun, kid!changkyun, neighbour!hoseok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-08-17 01:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8125756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaginationisKey996/pseuds/ImaginationisKey996
Summary: When Kihyun's sister dropped her three year old son off on his doorstep, he would never have thought it would be the best thing to happened to him.  But its three years later and Changkyun is the most important thing in his life.  Then one day, they get a new neighbour with a full sleeve of uncoloured flowers and Changkyun is amazed.  Honestly, so is Kihyun, though probably not for the same reason.





	1. Chapter 1

Kihyun wakes to a wight landing on top of him, squishing the air out of his lungs. 

“Kinhyun, wake up, wake up! It’s the first day of school!”

Ah, yes. Today was Changkyun’s first day of kindergarten. The boy had been so excited that Kihyun had a great deal of difficulty getting him to go to sleep last night. How the child was so energetic so early in the morning, Kihyun would never know and he considered himself a morning person. 

He wraps his arms around the little bundle thats seated on his chest and pulls him into his embrace. 

“Oh no, it’s not Kihyun,. It’s a sea monster!” He growls and Changkyun tries to wiggle out of his grasp, giggling all the while. Kihyun holds tight. “How are you gonna go to school if your trapped my a sea monster!” 

Changkyun wriggles around harder and ends up accidentally kneeing Kihyun in the stomach which causes him to let go. Changkyun leaps up and runs toward the bedroom door.

“I’m free! I’m free! You’ll never catch me octopus man!” He shouts as he sprints out into their living room. Kihyun slides out of his bed, pausing for a moment to rub some of the sleep from his eyes. Then he chases Kihyun out into the living room. 

The musty morning air of their apartment is filled with giggles and shrieks as they chase each other. Eventually, Kihyun scoops Changkyun into his arms, holding him close.

“Hey, hey, you’ve gotta have breakfast before you head out for your first day at school, honey bee.” Changkyun relaxes in his arms and Kihyun is able to place him in his chair at the kitchen table. Changkyun is still a little too short to reach the table comfortably, so there is a cushion on his seat to give him some extra elevation. 

Kihyun ruffles his short brown hair before heading to the fridge to pull out some ingredients for breakfast. 

Kihyun can’t help but be reminded of early mornings when he was young, his sister and him racing around the house, driving their parents crazy. He’s glad that Changkyun is better behaved than they were when they were that age. 

Changkyun looks a lot like his sister too. Brown hair, soft angled eyes, thin lips and a small but slightly hooked nose. It made sense, he supposed. It was just kinda funny that Changkyun didn’t get any of his fathers traits. 

It’s important to note that Kihyun isn’t actually Changkyun’s biological father. No, when he was around sixteen years old, his older sister had gotten married and by the time he was seventeen he had a little nephew. Then when he was eighteen, his sisters husband was killed in an accident. He had been a soldier and there had been a misfire during one of the training sessions. And when he was nineteen his sister had shown up on his door step and thrusted a three year old boy into his arms, saying she just couldn’t bare it anymore. That every time she looked at her son, she just saw his face. With their parents dead, there was no where else to turn. She didn’t want to put him up for adoption because that wouldn’t be fair to the boy. At the time, Kihyun had thought about saying that this wasn’t fair to him but he didn’t. And he’s glad, for the most part. He had taken the boy from his sister’s arms and he couldn’t say no. 

So Kihyun had become the boys legal guardian and his sister had disappeared somewhere. She still sent him some money every month and around two hundred dollars a month goes into Changkyun’s college fund from the military, since his father was a soldier.

They certainly weren’t well off but they got by. Kihyun had quit school and had picked up a couple jobs. Currently he was working at a bakery not far from their apartment and sometimes in the evenings he would sing at a local cafe or pub for a little extra cash.

So their life isn’t always great. Sometimes Kihyun can’t afford to buy Changkyun the toys that he wants and their Christmases are always rather lack lustre but they’ve got each other. Changkyun has always been a very understanding child. He knows that they don;t have a lot of money and he never complains but Kihyun can’t help but feel sorry. He just wants to be able to give Changkyun everything he wants. 

“Kihyun?” A small voice speaks up from behind him. He’s startled out of his memories and he realizes that he’s just had his head stuck in the open fridge for a couple of minutes. 

“Sorry, kiddo. I was just thinking and I got a little lost.”

“That’s okay. If you get lost, I’ll always find you and bring you back.”

Kihyun feels his chest compress with love for the little boy at the table. Three years later and he still doesn’t regret taking this boy in and taking care of him. The things he had given up were well worth this child’s happiness. A lot of the time he thinks that he gets a lot more out of having Changkyun by his side than the kid gets from him. 

He quickly whips them up some breakfast and the two of them dig in together. When they’re finished, Kihyun collects their plates and puts them by the sink to go into the dish washer. He tells Changkyun to go get dressed and brush his teeth and then he grabs the remainder of his coffee and heads out onto their tiny deck. 

The air outside is cool and refreshing and he reminds himself to open a couple windows before he goes to work to allow from some airflow in the apartment. He sips his coffee and watches as the sun sneaks up the horizon. 

Then, very quietly, he hears something coming from the deck to his right. It sounds like humming. Its some song he doesn’t recognize, but the tune is melodious and sweet and it compliments the morning air. 

Kihyun can’t help but wonder who it is that humming. The apartment on their right has been empty for months. The last couple who had lived their had bought a house when they found out they were going to have a baby.

The decks are walled on the sides to offer some privacy to the tenants but if you lean far enough over the edge you can see the far corner of your neighbours deck. 

Kihyun sneaks up to the edge of his deck. Turns out that he doesn’t have to lean as far forward as he thought he would because the other man is leaning over the edge of his balcony too. Unlike Kihyun, he’s not trying to snoop in his neighbours. On the railing of the deck he has a window box filled with beautiful flowers. He seemed to be checking them over to see if they're healthy, watering can in one hand, the other sifting through petals and leaves.

Kihyun can feel his heart rate picking up. His new neighbour doesn’t even look like he should be a real person. He’s got a strong, sharp jaw and thick, pink lips that curl up at the ends pressed together in concentration. His nose is long and straight, curving up to sharp, angled, almond shaped eyes and gently curved eyebrows. His hair is bleach blonde but it still looks soft as it falls across his forehead. And that’s just his face. He’s wearing a loose t-shirt, probably what he sleeps in, his mind helpfully provides. Though it hangs off his body, Kihyun can still tell that he’s got a broad, thick chest and his arms are on display for everyone to see. They are think and well muscled but that’s not even the most interesting thing about them. From what Kihyun can see his new neighbour has a full sleeve of black and white flowers tattooed on his skin. 

His neighbour has headphones in but he must have seen some movement out of the corner of his eye because he turns and looks directly at Kihyun. Kihyun’s eyes widen but he doesn’t move back.

“Its rude to spy on people.” The man says removing his headphones. He’s got this devil may care smirk on his face so Kihyun knows that he’s just teasing but he feels his face heat up anyways. 

“Sorry, I was just curious. I didn’t realize anyone had moved in beside us. That place has been empty for months so when I heard humming I couldn’t help but look.”

“You heard that?” The man asks and when Kihyun nods its his turn to blush. “I’m sorry. I’ll be quieter, I promise.”

“No, I don’t mind. It was pretty nice actually.” And with that, his new neighbours sheepishness disappeares and he’s grinning full force. He opens his mouth like he’s going to say something but someone calls to him from inside. Kihyun can’t quite tell what was said. His neighbour looks breifly over his shoulder and then his eyes are on Kihyun again. 

“I’ve gotta go. Good chat though.” He says with a teasing grin. “I’ll see you around.” And with that, he turns and disappears out of Kihyun’s sight. He slumps back on the wall between their decks, long forgotten coffee is placed on the ground beside him. He tries to remind himself that just because his new neighbour is beautiful and also kind of flirty doesn’t mean that he should immediately fall for him. His brain seems to get that pretty easily but his heart is struggling to receive the memo as it thrums against his ribcage. 

He has Changkyun to think about. That’s his first priority. 

He heaves himself up off the ground and heads back inside. He finds Changkyun in the bathroom furiously scrubbing his teeth. He picks up his own tooth brush and they brush their teeth side by side. 

Kihyun gets dressed, grabs his coat and keys and slips his shoes on before helping Changkyun with his. Then he’s grabbing Changkyun’s hand and they head out the door, down the stairs and out of the building on their way to a new school.


	2. Chapter 2

The next few days fly by so fast for Kihyun he almost totally forgets about his new neighbour. School is going well for Changkyun and he’s made at least one new friend (Kihyun had been worried because Changkyun is normally kind of wary of strangers) and his teachers have been saying that he’s one of the smartest kids in class. At that, Kihyun can’t help but puff up with pride. 

Also, Kihyun has been picking up some late shifts at the bakery because this year he wants to get something really nice for Changkyun for his birthday. While it means Changkyun has to stay at the daycare run by one of Kihyun’s old school friends, Minhyuk, it also means that they might be able to do something really special when the time comes. 

It’s after dinner in the middle of the week when Kihyun sees his neighbour again. It’s laundry day so Kihyun makes sure to gather every scrap of clothing he can find around the house, throwing it all into a hamper and getting ready to go down to the laundry room in their building.

There building isn’t very big, so naturally the laundry room isn’t all that big either. There are two washers and two driers side by side, cramped against the back wall. There is an ancient looking wing back arm chair shoved in the corner by the door. It’s got some of the most hideous upholstery that Kihyun has ever seen and that’s saying something since most of the furniture in his apartment was gifted to him by his friends great aunt. Still, when you forget to do your laundry until two in the morning its a decent place for a quick nap. 

He pushes the door open, dragging a hamper filled with his and Changkyun’s clothes, Changkyun himself tagging along behind, markers and colouring book in hand. Kihyun had learned the hard way not to leave his clothes in the washer unsupervised. 

He hoists Changkyun up so he’s sitting on top of one of the washers and he can lay out his colouring supplies and get to work. Then Kihyun begins to load their clothes into the wash. 

He’s just setting the spin cycle when the laundry room door opens. In strides his new neighbour in loose, light washed jeans that are torn to high heavens and a hoodie that swallows up his whole torso, sleeves slipping over his hands. His hair is damp and there is a flush sweeping over the bridge of his nose and up his cheeks bones from the warmth. 

When he spies Kihyun he grins, and it lights up his eyes in a way that makes Kihyun’s stomach squirm a little. 

“Hey, neighbour. What are the chances of us meeting here?”

“Pretty high, actually.” Kihyun can’t help but tease. “Not that many people live here.” 

“I suppose you’re right. Still it is nice to see you again. And so soon too. Just my luck.” Kihyun’s neighbour drags his hamper filled with clothes toward the second washing machine. He throws his clothes in the machine and then he’s pulling sweater off over his head. Underneath he’s wearing a loose white tank top that leaves his tattoos on full display. Kihyun puts a considerable amount of effort into not blatantly staring at his new neighbour. 

Up until now, Changkyun had just been dutifully colouring in his place on top of the washing machine. He hadn’t even looked up when their new neighbour had entered the room but upon the presentation of the man’s tattoos Changkyun looks up from his book. 

He scoots to the edge of the washing machine, legs dangling over the edge and he asks, “S’cuse me mister, but why aren’t those flowers coloured in?”

Their neighbour looks at Changkyun, just now noticing that there is a child there. 

“Well, what if other people want to colour them in? You wouldn’t buy a colouring book that’s already complete, would you? What would be the point?”

Changkyun squints at the man in contemplation.

“I like the way you think. My name’s Changkyun but Kihyun calls me honey bee sometimes. You’re not allowed to call me that though.” Changkyun thrusts out his small, chubby hand for their neighbour to shake. He looks at Kihyun with his eyebrows raised. Kihyun just shrugs his shoulders so their neighbour takes Changkyun’s hand in his much larger one and shakes firmly but gently.

“I’m Hoseok, and you have a mighty fine handshake there, Changkyun.” He says.

Then Kihyun’s phone starts buzzing like crazy in his pocket. It’s his boss calling, probably to ask him to cover the night shift. He answers the call and slips out of the room making sure to keep the door proped open so he can watch Hoseok and Changkyun. While Hoseok seems like a nice enough guy, they’ve only exchanged about three sentences and that is definitely not enough for him to trust the man around Changkyun. Hell, he just indirectly learned his neighbours name!

He was right. It had been his boss calling and he had asked Kihyun to cover the graveyard shift at the bakery. Their bakery was kind of odd in the fact that it was open all the way till 4 in the morning when the bakers came in to start everything fresh for the next day. He had refused, saying that there wasn’t anyone he could get to look after Changkyun. His boss had understood. He was fully aware of Kihyun’s situation and had offered to do anything he could to help. That’s why he always calls Kihyun first whenever they have a shift available. 

He hangs up the phone and turns to head back into the laundry room. Hoseok is leaning with his chest against the washing machine, tattooed arm extended to Changkyun,whose got his markers spread out all over the top of the washing machine. The little boy currently has a purple marker in his hand but instead of colouring in the lines of his colouring book, he is intently colouring a cluster of flowers inked into Hoseok’s arm. The two of them seem deep in conversation.

Kihyun wanders farther into the laundry room trying to decipher what they’re talking about. 

“And that’s why the bees are so important to the flowers.” Hoseok was saying. 

“So you’re saying that I shouldn’t kill the bees even though they might hurt me?” Changkyun answers, putting down the purple marker and picking up a beautiful robin’s egg blue one. 

“I mean if you like flowers then, yeah, you probably shouldn’t kill the bees. Some times you’ve just got to peacefully coexist with things that you don’t like.”

“Oh, okay.”

The washing machine beneath them beeped violently, scaring Changkyun and causing him to make a bright blue streak down the length of Hoseok’s forearm. 

“Ah, Changkyun, can you run back up to our apartment and get the drier sheets for me?” Kihyun asks. Hoseok helps the six year old off the dryer and Changkyun sprints out of the room. 

“He’s cute.” Hoseok says, trying to rub the streak of ink off his arm. Kihyun laughs and begins unloading his clothes from the wash and transferring it to the dryer. Hoseok leans down to help like he’s not even thinking about what he’s doing. 

“I know he is. What were you guys talking about anyways?” Kihyun says. 

“I just asked him what it was that he liked to colour best. Then he told me about how much he liked colouring flowers.”

Kihyun remembers having a conversation like that with Changkyun.

“Ah, because they can be pretty much any colour ever. There are no limitations to the colours of flowers?”

“Exactly. I think that’s pretty sound logic. Then I asked him if he wanted to start colouring in my tattoos.” Hoseok is leaning back against the washer as they wait for Changkyun to get back with the dryer sheets. 

“I feel like he knows more about you than I do.” Kihyun says. 

“Well, I think I know more about him then I do about you.” Hoseok says. “But, hey. That can change.” and he smiles, corners of his lips curling further upward, eyes scrunching into beautiful crescents. And Kihyun smiles back. 

“Can I give you my number?” Hoseok asks. “Just in case there’s an emergency or something. I just thought it might be nice to be able to contact someone who lives close by. He begins to mumble as he reaches the end of his sentence. He’s not looking Kihyun in the eyes like he’s afraid of rejection. 

“Sounds like a plan, Hoseok.” and Kihyun pulls his phone out of his pocket and passes it to his neighbour who quickly types his number in and hands the phone back. 

Just then Changkyun returns, dryer sheets in hand, face flushed from running the whole way there and back. 

Doing the rest of the laundry goes fairly smoothly. Changkyun continues to colour in Hoseok’s tattoos Kihyun and Hoseok make pleasant small talk. Kihyun is surprised that Hoseok didn’t say anything about him, a twenty two year old, taking care of a six year old. He’s glad though. He isn’t sure he’s ready to explain his complicated past to his neighbour. 

As Kihyun and Changkyun are heading back to there apartment, freshly washed clothes stuffed in the hamper Kihyun is dragging behind him Changkyun asks, “Are you and Hoseok gonna be best friends now?”

“I don’t know, honey bee.” Kihyun says. 

“I like him. He lets me colour his flowers and he talks about bees. Also he said that he has a new puppy that I could come and play with if you’re okay with it.” Changkyun gushes.

Kihyun smiles as they reach their door. They step inside and Kihyun closes the door behind him.

“Well, if you like him that much then maybe we can be friends.”

“I think everyone deserves a good friend. Especially you, Kihyun.” Kihyun smiles at the kids sweetness. Changkyun is smart and he knows that it hasn’t been easy for Kihyun, though he probably doesn't know the full extent of what both of the had given up. 

“Kihyun?”

“Yeah, honey bee?”

“What does coexist mean?”


	3. Chapter 3

After the day in the laundry room Hoseok starts spending a lot more time with their little family. He greets Kihyun in the mornings and they chat when they see each other getting the mail or when they pass each other in the hall. They also do their laundry together sometimes. Its all disgustingly domestic, Kihyun thinks.

One morning, Kihyun and Changkyun are just about to start down the stairs of the apartment building when Kihyun hears some one call his name. Kihyun pokes his head out of the stairwell to see whose calling him. Hoseok is locking his door, clad in a pair of black joggers and a white t-shirt, hair all fluffy and messy against his forehead. In his hand is a bright red leash and attached to the end of it is a little black puppy engaged in chewing on Hoseok’s shoelaces. 

“PUPPY!” Changkyun yells, letting go of Kihyun’s hand and sprinting down the hall towards Hoseok. The puppy sees something hurtling towards him and abandons the shoe laces in favour of rushing towards the moving object, nearly tugging Hoseok over in the process.

By the time Kihyun has reached them, the puppy has Changkyun tackled to the floor and it’s licking all over his face while the boy just giggles and scratches under it’s collar. 

Kihyun bends down to pet the puppy as well, gently patting it on the top of its soft black head. The puppy registers the presence of someone new and immediately jumps into Kihyun’s lap. This doesn’t work very well seeing as Kihyun is crouching and He ends up on his ass with a lapfull of puppy.

“Apollo, down!” Hose scolds, trying desperately to get the puppy to listen. He gives up and bends down to scoop the puppy out of Kihyun’s lap. Then he reaches down with his other hand to help Kihyun of the floor. 

“Sorry about that. He’s not very well trained yet.” Hoseok says sheepishly, putting the puppy back on the floor. Apollo goes back to chewing on Hoseok’s show laces while Changkyun strokes his fur. 

“It’s okay. He’s cute.” Kihyun smiles down at the boy and the puppy as the little dog rolls onto it’s back to allow Changkyun to rub his belly.

“Where are you guys headed so early in the morning?” Hoseok asks.

“Changkyun’s got school and then I have to head to work. Speaking of which, we should probably get going or we’re gonna be late.”

Upon hearing that, Changkyun looks up, pouting for all he’s worth. 

“Come on, Changkyun. The puppy will still be here after school and maybe if you’re especially good, Hoseok will let you come over and play with him.”

“Okay.” Changkyun says, begrudgingly getting to his feet and taking Kihyun’s outstretched hand. 

“Would you mind if I walked with you? I was just going to for a jog with Apollo so I’m heading that way anyways.”

Hoseok is looking at Kihyun but Changkyun is already reaching for his free hand. The six year olds fingers aren’t long enough to hold on properly so he settles for gripping three fingers in his tiny, sticky hands. 

Hoseok grins down at the little boy before adjusting his grip so its a little more comfortable for the both of them. 

“That sounds nice.” Kihyun says, belatedly. He’s aware that he doesn’t really have any say in the matter but he figures he should be honest all the same. 

So they waddle down the sidewalk, two men, a six year old and a puppy, being a general inconvenience for everyone, but they don’t care. Luckily it’s early enough that not many people are out. Just a couple joggers and teenagers on their way to school. Hoseok and Changkyun are deep in discussion about the best types of dogs, their joined hand swinging in between them, Apollo prancing along beside them, trying to snap up the leaves that flutter to the ground. 

Kihyun thinks that he could get used to this. 

It becomes routine for them very quickly. Every weekday, they meet at the top of the stairwell, join hands and head toward the school together. Then they bid each other good by and Changkyun heads to class, Kihyun to work and Hoseok of on a jog with his puppy. 

Kihyun had gotten a lot of raised eyebrows and pointed stares from Changkyun’s teacher, Hyungwon, or Mr. Chae as the kids are meant to call him. Every morning he just shrugs it off. If Hyungwon were to ask, (which he has) he would say that he and Hoseok are just friends. If Hyungwon were to ask if he wanted to be just friends with Hoseok (which he hasn’t) Kihyun would say that its good to have friends. But also, the more time he spends around his neighbour, the more he feels himself falling into something a little different than friendship. 

He learned, on one of their many morning walks, that Hoseok is actually a pretty famous tattoo artist, which, duh, considering all the tattoos he has he must have some kind of connection to the industry. After he’d found that out he’d immediately taken to the internet and looked up his work. 

He came across a sleek minimalist website. Hoseok was one of three artists advertised on the site and Kihyun spent an hour scrolling through all of the designs the three artists had in their portfolios. 

Each of the three had a distinct and beautiful style. One of them, Hyunwoo, had a soft linear style. All of his designs were made from thin straight lines and hatched shading. The second artist, Jooheon, Had a very bright, haphazard style but still everything came together with a certain degree of precision. 

And lastly, there was Hoseok. His designs were simplistic. Thin black lines sometimes firmly creating form, sometimes just suggesting it with bright splashes of colour painted on the skin in a way that made it look like water colours. 

Kihyun had never really thought about getting a tattoo before but seeing all of these beautiful designs he couldn’t help but what it would be like to have something like that permanently inked into his skin. 

 

Something else he’d learned about Hoseok on their walks was that, in his spare time, he volunteered at their local animal shelter. That’s how he had come to have Apollo. One of the shelter dogs had given birth a couple months earlier and all the rest of the puppies had been adopted except for the little black one. So Hoseok had decided to take him home. It was supposed to be a temporary fostering situation but he had fallen in love with the rambunctious puppy and he’d filled out the adoption papers in order to keep the little scamp. 

Hoseok was a sensitive, kind soul. He liked animals, he was good with kids, he was sweet and funny. Kihyun literally could not ask for more. 

“So why don’t you just date him?” Minhyuk asked as Kihyun was unlocking the front door of his apartment building. He had momentarily forgotten that he was gushing about his neighbour, to his long time friend and the man who ran Changkyun’s daycare. 

“What! I don’t want to date him.” Kihyun says, trying his best to sound incredulous but he can feel the blush creeping up his cheeks. He avoids eye contact, finally getting the door unlocked. Minhyuk just raises his eyebrows.

“Mhmm. Of course you don’t. You definitely didn’t just spend the whole walk back from the coffee shop talking about how great he is with Changkyun. I seriously cannot wait to meet the guy that’s got you as close to head over heels as you’ve been since high school.”

“I’m not head over heels for him.” Kihyun mutters to himself as they ascend the stairs. 

“Whatever you say, Ki.” There at his front door now and Kihyun is just about to slip his key into the lock.

“Kihyun!” He hears someone call from the top of the stairs. He turns to see Hoseok standing at the top of the stairs. 

He appears to have just gotten back to the building after his run because he’s covered in sweat. His t-shirt is sticking to his broad chest and his hair clumps together on his forehead. He’s panting, and Apollo doesn’t appear to be fairing too well either, dropping to the ground at Hoseoks feet, tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth, ears drooping backward against his skull. The whole picture should be pretty gross but Hoseok’s eyes are so bright and he’s smiling and Kihyun can’t help but be so captivated by him. 

“Oh shit, okay. I kinda get it. He’s fucking beautiful.” Minhyuk says from somewhere at Kihyun’s shoulder. He sounds a little breathless and Kihyun knows the feeling. 

“Hey.” Kihyun says, trying his best to sound casual and not at all like he’s having some kind of religious experience. 

“Is Changkyun okay? I didn’t see you walking to school this morning.” Hoseok asks, brows furrowing a little in concern. 

“Ah, no. He’s fine. They have the day off today so he stayed the night at a friends house.” 

“Ah, I see.” He turns to Minhyuk and holds out a hand. “I’m Hoseok, Kihyun’s neighbour.” 

“Minhyuk. I run the day care Changkyun goes to. I’ve also been friends with Kihyun since middle school so if you want any dirt on him, I’ve got it.” Minhyuk says with a sly grin. 

Hoseok grins back.

“Uh, no. You’re supposed to be on my side! What the hell?” Kihyun says voice filled with indignation.

“Sorry, Kihyun. He’s hotter than you so…”

“You are a terrible best friend, Lee Minhyuk. In fact, I’m withdrawing that title. We are no longer friends.”

Kihyun’s phone begins to ring in his pocket. “Hold that thought. I’m not done with you yet. Either of you.” He says with a pointed glare at Hoseok who puts his hands up in surrender, but a smirk begins to curl his lips upward. 

Kihyun steps away from the two traitors, already deep in their own conversation, and answers his phone.

“Hey, Kihyun. It’s Seokjin. We kind of have an emergency. There seems to be some kind of flu going around the shop and almost everyone has called in sick. I thought that I’d be able to handle it myself but…”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I’ll be down as soon as I can.” Kihyun says. He bids his boss good bye and hangs up before turning to the pair chattering by his door. Hoseok stops talking and looks at Kihyun, brows furrowed. 

“What’s up?” He asks.

“I just got called into work. Seokjin sounds like he’s really struggling down there.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Minhyuk, I don’t suppose you’d be willing to look after Changkyun would you?” He asks hopefully.

“Damn, I wish I could. I’ve got to be back at the daycare in like an hour. I can only leave the children with my assistants for so long. I could pick him up from his friends and take him there with me though?”

Kihyun sighs. It’d probably be fine, right? He knows that the six year old is going to be exhausted and he’s probably gonna need to have a nap. But he’s napped at the daycare before. Maybe he’d call up that girl that used to babysit Changkyun when he was younger. He’d hate to do that on such short notice, though. 

“Or I could go pick him up and bring him back here if you want? He can stay at my apartment until you get home from work and then you can come pick him up.”

Kihyun’s honestly a little shocked that Hoseok would offer to do that for him. He knows that Hoseok cares for the kid but this is a pretty big step forward.

“Seriously?”

“Well, I just thought, you know. Since I don’t have to work today this might be easier. Then you don’t have to drive all the way out to the daycare after you’re done work. But, I mean, if you’re not comfortable—“

“That would be amazing. Seriously, you’re a life saver.” And without thinking too much Kihyun leans in and plants a small kiss on Hoseok’s cheek. He pulls away before Hoseok can see how badly he’s blushing.

“I’ll get all his stuff together. I don’t know what time I’ll be home but you don’t have to worry about putting him to bed or anything. One late night won’t do him any harm.”

Kihyun slips inside his apartment, Minhyuk following close behind, leaving Hoseok standing in the hall, hand on his cheek where Kihyun kissed him, dopey grin on his face.

“You sure you don’t want to date him? Cause if you don’t, I will.” Minhyuk says

Kihyun responds by launching a couch cushion at his head.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FIrstly, I'd just like to thank everyone soon much for all the nice things you've all been saying. It means a lot to me and I'm sorry I haven't had time to reply to each of your comments individually yet. I promise I will get to it eventually!! anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and the rest that are on their way!!

It’s nearly eleven o’clock when Kihyun finally gets home that night. It seemed like everyone and their mother had decided that today was a good day to go to their little bakery. It had been hectic, with just him and his boss, Seokjin, there but they had made it through the day with relatively few incidents. 

It had started winding down around ten but Kihyun had offered to stay and help clean up, not wanting his boss to have to do everything by himself. He knows that Seokjin had kids of his own to take care of. 

Kihyun drags himself up the stairwell toward his front door. He’s so exhausted and focused on the task of not dropping his keys as he tries to unlock his door that he almost doesn’t notice the little note taped to the front. 

It reads: _Hey Kihyun,_

_It was nine o’clock and you weren’t home yet and Changkyun wanted to go to sleep. I didn’t have a key or anything to we are still at my place. The door is unlocked so don’t worry about knocking. Come in whenever you get home :)_

_Hoseok_

Kihyun smiles at the note and pulls it carefully off the door. He takes the tape off, folds the note and puts it in his pocket before heading to Hoseok’s apartment. 

True to what the note said, Hoseok’s door is unlocked and Kihyun pushes it open slowly, not wanting to disturb anyone inside. 

It turns out that he really didn’t need to worry though. Hoseok and Changkyun are both completely unconscious. They’re sitting on the couch in Hoseok’s living room, the television playing some old disney movie that was probably Hoseok’s choice, not Changkyun’s. Well, sitting is kind of a stretch. Hoseok’s back is pushed into one corner of the couch, one leg on the floor and the other stretched along the length of the couch. Changkyun is curled up on his chest, arms wrapped loosely around Hoseok’s neck, face nuzzled into his shoulder. Hoseok must be very warm because even though they don’t have a blanket, Changkyun’s cheeks are are red. Hoseok’s also got his arms wrapped around Changkyun keeping him in place on his lap and Kihyun feels a weird twinge of jealousy. 

He shakes his head at himself, laughing a little at how ridiculous he’s being. Jealous of a six year old? Please. And yet he still finds himself wishing that Hoseok would hold him like that. That they could all snuggle together on the couch. Hoseok wrapped around Kihyun with Changkyun in the middle. There’s this sudden punch in his gut of how much he _wants_ that and it almost hurts. 

The two on the couch don’t look like their going to wake up anytime soon so Kihyun goes over and places a hand on Hoseok’s shoulder cause, really, sleeping like that can’t be too comfortable. 

Hoseok wakes slowly, eyebrows creasing, long dark eyelashes fluttering agains pale skin that almost glows in the blue light of the television where Kihyun knows it only makes his own skin look sickly. Hoseok makes an abortive move to stretch his arms before realizing that there is something on his chest. His eyes open and search around the room before finding Kihyun standing behind the couch at his shoulder. He places his hand over the one Kihyun has still resting on him and he smiles. 

“Hey. How was work?” He asks and, wow. His voice is gravely and warm with sleep, his honey brown eyes are still half lidded and his hair is in disarray, sticking up in all directions like at one time it was nicely styled but a full day of chasing after a six year old and ruined it. His hand against Kihyun’s is unbelievably warm and his face is a little flushed, just like Changkyun’s. Kihyun thinks that he could really get used to this. 

“It was good. Busy.” He answers and Hoseok begins tracing tiny patterns onto the back of Kihyun’s hand. He’s probably unaware he’s even doing it, still somewhere between sleep and waking but Kihyun’s heart simply doesn’t care and he can feel it stuttering in his chest. 

Hoseok hums in acknowledgment pulling his hand away from Kihyun who immediately misses the warmth. He slides his hands under Changkyun’s legs, planting both feet on the ground before standing, hoisting Changkyun into the air with him. The six year old doesn’t wake up. He just wraps his arms tighter around Hoseok’s neck and nuzzles in closer. 

They make there way over to Kihyun’s apartment and they head to Changkyun’s room. His markers are neatly boxed on top of his desk, organized according to the colour wheel which he’d learned about last week at school. There is a large stack of white printer paper in the corner and some loose pages are scattered about the work space of his desk. On the walls there are drawings upon drawings pinned up haphazardly. On the ceiling there are those little glow in the dark stars stuck up with blu-tack.

Kihyun pulls back Changkyun’s duvet, which is also covered in stars, and Hoseok lays him down carefully in the sheets. Kihyun tucks him in and plants a kiss on his forehead. He turns to see Hoseok watching him with a fond smile on his lips. He gestures for them to leave the room. They close the door behind them as gently a they can. 

“Do you want some tea or something?” Kihyun asks. He’s dead tired and Hoseok looks like he’s about to fall asleep himself but for some reason Kihyun feels that if he lets Hoseok leave now, whatever quiet spell has fallen over them will be broken and he’ll never be able to get it back. 

“That’s be wonderful.” Hoseok responds with a sleepy smile. 

They head to the kitchen and Kihyun fills up his electric kettle, flicking it on before going to the cupboard to pull down a couple mugs. He passes the first one to Hoseok 

“So how was he today? I called the school to let them know you were coming to pick him up so I hope there was no difficulties there.” Kihyun asks, grabbing a second mug for himself. 

“Everything went great. Though, I swear, I thought Changkyun’s teacher was going to interrogate me before he let me take the kid home.” Kihyun laughs at that. He would expect nothing else of the young teacher he’d gotten to know over the past month and a bit. 

“Changkyun was excellent though. Its been a while since I’ve taken care of someone so young so, honestly, I was pretty nervous. But I guess I had no reason to be. He’s so well behaved. He listens and he’s smart and so, so curious about the world. And we both like to draw. I let him colour some old tattoo designs I had lying around and it seemed like he was having fun.”

“I’m sure he was.” Kihyun hums thoughtfully. “Did you used to take care of young kids a lot?” 

“Kind of? I was a foster kid, so lots of moving around and when I did finally stay somewhere for more than a couple months at a time the other kids were always switching in and out. Sometimes you’d move into one place and live with a kid for a week before they got moved and then you’d see them again at the next house you were moved to. But a lot of the kids my age got adopted young so a lot of the time I would be one of the older kids in a house. It was okay though. I made it through and not everyone does.”

Kihyun can see him, Hoseok, at Changkyun’s age being carted from house to house, family to family. Some of them would have been kind and wonderful. They would have felt like home and they would have been heartbreaking to leave. Some of them must have been absolute hell. He probably sat looking out the window just waiting for the day when he’d be moved somewhere else, for better or for worse. It breaks his heart.

“Why didn’t you get adopted? If you don’t mind me asking.” 

“It’s fine.” Hoseok sighs and he sounds tired, and not in a way that a few extra hours of sleep will fix. 

“I wasn’t very smart as a kid. I got distracted easily in school and all I ever wanted to do was draw. I got labelled as a “problem child” when I was just a little older than Changkyun. Other kids used to pick fights with me because I was poor and skinny and I liked to draw. But I was never one to let people walk all over me. I started getting in fights and no one wants to deal with an aggressive and violent social recluse, y’know?”

The kettle shuts off and Kihyun begins to pour their tea. He and Hoseok would have been kids around the same time. He wonders if Hoseok’s childhood would have been better or worse if they had met with they were little. 

“You won’t have to worry about that though. Changkyun is so smart. And he gets along so well with all the kids in his class, even if he’s a little quiet at first. He would stop telling me about all of the friends he’s made so far. You’re a good dad, Kihyun.” 

Kihyun pauses as he’s pouring his own cup of tea. He swallows down the fear that Hoseok will judge him and he says:

“Actually, I’m not Changkyun’s dad.” He hands Hoseok his mug. He’s met with steady hands and raised eyebrows. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to assume anythi—“

“It’s fine, Hoseok. I’m actually his uncle.” And Kihyun goes on to explain the whole story of his sister and how he’d dropped out of university to get a job to care for the six year old. 

“What about your parents? Couldn’t they help?” Hoseok asks, blowing on his tea to cool it down a little. Kihyun shakes his head.

“They passed away when I was about fifteen. Just before Changkyun was born.”

“Oh, sorry…”

“Stop apologizing. Neither of us have had things particularly easy, I guess.”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be like that anymore. If you ever need help with anything, you know you can come to me, right?” 

Kihyun smiles and heads toward the fridge to grab some milk for his tea. Hoseok grabs his hand as he passes by the table. He feels a little tug, beckoning him to turn around. 

“I’m serious, Kihyun.” Hoseok says, looking up at Kihyun with soft, honey brown eyes. “I’m here for you no matter what.” Kihyun wants so badly to curl into the man in front of him. To roll himself up in the warmth and hide away from the world where things are real and people get hurt. And yet, at the same time, he wants to be Hoseok’s shield. To protect someone so good and kind from a world that has already hurt him in ways that’ll effect him for the rest of his life. 

He settles for the most sincere smile he can muster and responds with a slightly watery “I’m here for you, too. No matter what.”


	5. Chapter 5

It’s been a few weeks since that night and Kihyun and Hoseok have been texting pretty much non-stop. Just mundane stuff like how there day was or stuff about work or Changkyun’s school. Kihyun texts Hoseok pictures of Changkyun and Hoseok texts Kihyun photos of the tattoos and designs that he’s working on and Apollo. Even though the weather has gotten colder, Hoseok still walks his dog to Changkyun’s school with them in the mornings and goes for his run after. 

Kihyun is currently surrounded by literally every piece of clothing he owns. There are shirts laid out on the bed, pants on the floor, ties hanging over the top of his bedroom door with Kihyun just standing in the middle of this tornado of clothes. 

_To: Hoseok_

_hey are you home?_

_To: Kihyun_

_no I'm at work. what’s up?_

_To: Hoseok_

_im trying to figure out what to wear to this parent appreciation tea at kyun’s school_

_To: Kihyun_

_whatever you wear you’ll look great. don’t worry about it so much_

_To: Hoseok_

_that’s not the point! I don’t want all of the nice married moms to think I'm some kind of  
dead beat high school drop out that has no business raising a child. _

_To: Hoseok_

_theyre all gonna think theres something wrong with me for raising a child on my own at_  
22\. theyre gonna think i knocked up my high school girlfriend and then ruined her life  
and now I'm stuck with a child. 

_To: Hoseok_

_I may be having a little bit of a panic attack right now_

Kihyun’s phone starts to ring in his hand. He answers it immediately.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Ki. Are you all right?” Hoseok’s voice sounds kind of tinny through the phone receiver. Nothing like how warm it sounds in person. 

“I’m okay. I’m just really freaking out about this.”

“Yeah, I got that. Look, I know that saying don’t worry isn’t going to help but seriously, don’t worry so much. You’re a good dad, uncle, guardian, whatever. You love Changkyun more than anyone else in the world and that’s all that matters, I promise.” 

Kihyun sighs into the phone. Hoseok’s right. It really doesn’t matter what these people think of him. He loves Changkyun more than anything else in the universe and he’s doing the best that he can for the kid. 

“And, if you want, I could come with you. For morale support.” Kihyun’s eyes widen and he sits down heavily on the bed, wrinkling some of the shirts that were laying there. 

“Seriously? You would actually be willing to do that?”

“I mean, yeah. If it would help keep all the married people from judging you. I already told you, I’m here for you no matter what.”

“You’re actually a life saver, you know.” Kihyun observes the mess he’s made of his room. “I guess I should actually figure out what I’m gonna wear then, right?”

He hears Hoseok’s muffled laugh through the receiver. “

“Right. And I’ll make sure I don’t embarrass you with my fashion choices.”

“You better not. Do you just wanna come over when you’re done work?”

“Yeah. I’ll just go to my place and have a shower and get changed and then I’ll come pick you up.”

“Sounds good! See you soon.”

 

A couple hours later and Kihyun has finally decided on what he’s gonna wear. He’s wearing a powder blue button up done up most of the way with a white t-shirt on underneath. He’s got one of his favourite pairs of jeans on as well. They’re black and not terribly tight but he knows they still make his ass look great. They’re also one of the only pairs of jeans he owns that aren’t purposefully ripped to shreds. He’s styled his hair up away from his face and he’s just deciding what shoes to wear when he hears a knock on the door.

“Come in!” he calls from his bedroom. He hears the door open and close so he heads out to the living room, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows as he goes. 

“You know you don’t really have to knock unless the door is locked—“

Kihyun is lucky that his jaw doesn’t drop all the way to the floor. Hoseok looks so good, he kind of wants to die. 

He’s got a black turtleneck on that pulls tight across his broad chest. It hugs his arms and his waist and and looks goddamn wonderful. He’s got the sleeves rucked up to his elbows, showing off the tattoos that dance all the way down to his wrist, even creeping onto the back of his hand like real vines. His got his coat slung over one arm, something made of loose, worn, leather and he’s wearing light wash jeans rolled up at the ankles ending in sleek black combat type boots. He’s even got his earrings in, one in each lobe and two in the helix on one side. 

“Too much?” He asks, seemingly unaware of the distress he’s currently causing. 

“No, no. It’s fine. You look fine.” Kihyun stutters out. Hoseok raises and eyebrow.

“Just fine?” He asks. And, ok, he definitely knows the distress he’s causing. He’s just a better actor than Kihyun thought. He punches Hoseok lightly in the shoulder, not actually wanting to hurt him.

“Shut up. You aren’t gonna weasel a compliment out of me so easily.”

Hoseok pouts at him, but Kihyun stays strong. 

“Fine, fine. Are you ready to go? Where’s Changkyun anyways?”

“He and his friends stayed at the school. Hyungwon wanted them to help set everything up. And I just need to put on my shoes and we can go.”

Hoseok nods and Kihyun bends down to tie the brown oxfords he had chosen. 

“So are we pretending to be married or what?” And Kihyun very nearly dies. 

‘Um… I guess so. Maybe engaged?”

“Sounds good. I found these in my jewelry box. I figured we could use them. Y’know just to be more convincing.” Hoseok is holding out his hand to Kihyun who is still crouched on the floor. He can’t really see what he’s holding from down there so he finishes tying his shoes and stands peering into Hoseok’s outstretched hand. 

Resting on his palm are two rings. They’re simple, one silver, one gold. Both with three tiny diamonds set into a mid sized band.

“Do you want silver or gold?” Hoseok asks. 

“It doesn’t matter. Whichever you think is best.” And Hoseok picks up Kihyun’s hand and slips the gold band onto his fourth finger before slipping the silver one onto his own. Kihyun frowns a little at that, irrationally wanting to put Hoseok’s ring on him since he got to do it to Changkyun. 

“Alright, fiancee are you all ready to wow all the uptight married moms at this tea?” Hoseok says, slipping on his jack before holding out his newly ringed hand for Kihyun to take. Kihyun smiles and takes it, entwining their fingers.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” And make their way into the chilly evening on their way to the school, fingers linked the whole way there.

 

Kihyun decides, resolutely, that this was an objectively terrible idea. He never thought that bringing Hoseok into a room full of women in their thirties would be a problem but here he is, sitting at their table alone. Hoseok had left to get another pitcher of water for their table before the dinner started but on his way back he’d been cornered by a gaggle of women.

In all fairness to Hoseok, he had tried to politely escape the conversation numerous times but they had dug their claws into him and begun asking him about his tattoos. And, in all fairness to the women, Hoseok was leagues more attractive than any of their husbands. They probably viewed him as fresh meat. Young, handsome and strong. Kinda like the whole, rich older women hiring attractive foreign pool boys for the sake of entertainment, situation. But Kihyun was fed up with it. Hoseok had come here with him to keep him calm about how young and inexperienced in child rearing he is, not to schmooze with every mother in the building. And actually, now that Kihyun looks a little harder, he can see some men gathered around Hoseok as well. 

Finally, he’s decided he’s had enough when one of the women wraps her talons around Hoseok’s upper arm and runs her other hand across his chest. Hoseok looks extremely uncomfortable as well so Kihyun makes his way to the cluster of people and weaves his way through the crowd till he’s standing by Hoseok’s side. He’s engaged in a conversation with one of the women about tattoos and he doesn’t even look at Kihyun. He does, however, wrap his arm around Kihyun’s waist, fingers holding on to the belt loop at the front of Kihyun’s pants, tucking him tight against Hoseok’s side. 

He feels safe there. It’s warm and comfortable and he feels like he’s able to observe without anyone really watching him. He sees a few of the people that had gathered around turning away, looking a little disappointed and the woman who was clinging desperately onto Hoseok’s other side detaches her self and throws a glare at Kihyun. He can’t help but feel a little smug. He snuggles closer into Hoseok’s side, wrapping his own arm around Hoseok’s back, palm resting against the other’s hip, tracing tiny designs with the tips of his fingers.

He feels Hoseok’s breath hitch and he looks up questioningly. Hoseok leans down and whispers harshly into Kihyun’s ear, “You seriously have to stop that. I am very, _very_ , ticklish.” And Kihyun can’t help but chuckle at that. After that he tries to keep his fingers as still as possible, just kind of observing everyone having a good time while their children are being cared for in the next room. 

“What about you, Kihyun?” The women that Hoseok has been talking to asks him. Kihyun remembers her. She’s the mother of this little girl that Changkyun had enjoyed building a beautiful lego castle with. They had fallen out over whether the flowers in the window box of the princes bedroom should be red or blue and she had told Changkyun that she never wanted to speak to him again. The very next day before school they had both apologized to each other saying that disagreeing on one little thing shouldn’t be enough to ruin their friendship and within the next two minutes they were playing tag in the muddy grass. The girl’s mother is kind and gentle, if not a little too lenient with the girl but Kihuyun is in no place to judge.

“Hmm?” Kihyun asks, eloquently.

“Have you ever thought about getting a tattoo?”

“I’ve thought about it, yeah. But I just don’t know what I would get.”

“Well, maybe your fiancee could design something for you.” The women says, single eyebrow raised at him. 

Before Kihyun has a chance to respond, Hyungwon is standing at the front of the room asking everyone to return to their seats so the principal can say some words. Hoseok doesn’t let go of Kihyun as they walk back to their table.

Once they’re seated and the principle starts talking Hoseok is leaning over and whispering in Kihyun’s ear. 

“I didn’t know you wanted to get a tattoo.”

“I don’t know if I really want one.” Kihyun whispers back. “It was more of a passing thought than anything.”

“Well, if you do ever decide you want one, let me know. I’ll hook you up with a sweet discount.” And Hoseok giggles when Kihyun smacks him in the chest with an open palm, grabbing his wrist and entwining their fingers, their hands resting on his thigh. 

The principal finishes talking and they all enjoy a lovely dinner. Soon enough, groups of parents head to the other room to pick up their children and Kihyun and Hoseok decides that they should think about heading out too. 

“Just give me one second I want to go thank Hyungwon. I’ll be right back.” Kihyun says to Hoseok before weaving his way through the people saying their goodbyes. 

“Hyungwon, how are you?” Kihyun says when he finally reaches the teacher. 

“I’m great, Kihyun. And you don’t seem to be doing too bad yourself. Congratulations by the way.” Hyungwon says in his natural sleepy drawl. 

“On what?” Kihyun asks. Hyungwon raises an eyebrow.

“On getting engaged?” Kihyun blushes.

“Oh no, no. We’re not actually engaged. He agreed to come with me cause I was scared that all the married people here would judge me for being single with a kid at such a young age. We aren’t even dating.”

“Bullshit you're not.” Hyungwon says, both eyebrows raised now. 

“I’m serious!”

“Well, you want to date him, don’t you? And he very clearly wants to date you. So why aren’t you dating?”

“I don’t know. I mean, what if Changkyun decides he doesn’t like him? He’s my responsibilty and his happiness comes first.”

Hyungwon smiles. “As much as I love to hear things like that from parents, I promise you that Changkyun likes him.”

“How do you know?” 

“Last week we had an exercise where the kids had to draw their heroes and then tell the class why that person was their hero. You wanna know who Changkyun drew.”

Kihyun doesn’t say anything and Hyungwon takes that as his queue to keep going. 

“He drew you and standing right beside you he drew Hoseok. First he apologized for breaking the rules and drawing two people but I told him it was okay and that he should explain why he chose you both. He said, “Kihyun loves me more than anything in the universe. I know that he’s given up a lot for me and one day I want to be as strong as he is.” Then I asked him why he drew Hoseok and he said, “Hoseok makes Kihyun happy and he’s always there for us whenever we need help. I wanna be like that for someone one day.” and he looked so serious through the whole thing, Kihyun. I’ve never seen him so serious and I’ve been teaching him for nearly two months.”

Hyungwon smiles at Kihyun whose honestly a little choked up. Hyungwon pats him on the shoulder gently.

“I think you’re using Changkyun as an excuse to prevent you from putting yourself out there.”

Kihyun smiles and shakes his head a little. 

“Thank you for the wonderful dinner. It must have been hell to organize but all the parents really appreciate it.”

Hyunwon sighs.

“You’re welcome. Thank you for coming. And I’m just saying. You shouldn’t wait around forever. Before you know it the opportunity could pass you by.” 

“I won’t.”

Kihyun heads back to where Hoseok is waiting. He passes Kihyun his jacket and they head down the hall to pick up Changkyun, whose nearly unconscious form so much activity through out the day.

“Hey, honey bee. Did you have fun today?” Kihyun asks him as he zips up the six year old’s coat. Changkyun is so exhausted that all he can do is nod his head. Kihyun sighs and scoops the kid into his arms, Changkyun wraps his legs around Kihyun’s waits and clings like a koala. 

The three of them walk home together in relative silence, not wanting to disturb Changkyun from his slumber. Hoseok walks closest to the road and Kihyun, with Changkyun wrapped around him, walks on the inside. 

When they finally reach their building, Hoseok unlocks the door and they trudge in from the cold and up the stairs to their floor. 

Kihyun somehow manages to unlock his apartment door with one hand and he turns to bid Hoseok goodnight. He feels Changkyun shift against him and then he’s wiggling his little six year old legs, wanting to be put down on the ground. Normally Kihyun would tell him to use his words but he’s so sleepy that he just sets Changkyun on the floor. 

The little boy runs the few steps it takes to get to Hoseok’s door, clumsily weaving down the hall, still bundled in his coat. Hoseok is standing, key in hand, prepared to unlock his own apartment when a little ball of six year old collides with his legs. Changkyun wraps his arms around Hoseok’s legs with all the strength he can muster.

“Goodnight, Hoseok.” Changkyun says, face mushed into the side of Hoseok’s thighs. Hoseok laughs and crouches down so he’s eye level with he boy. 

“Sweet dreams, Changkyun.” And he kisses Changkyun softly on the forehead before taking his tiny hand and walking him back to Kihyun whose got the door proped open,   
watching the exchange with a soft smile.

Changkyun heads inside , eager to get to sleep after a long, fun day. 

“Goodnight, Hoseok.” Kihyun says and as he’s turning to head inside, Hoseok catches his hand causing him to turn back to face him. 

“Sweet dreams, Kihyun.” And he has this tiny smile on his lips as he leans forward and presses a soft kiss to the corner of Kihyun’s lips. 

He pulls away before Kihyun can really even register what is going on. Hoseok is already in his apartment by the time Kihyun’s brain catches up with what just happens. He lifts his finger to brush where Hoseok kissed him. He smiles to himself as his lungs fill with sweet, heady bubbles. It feels like someone just poured champagne into his head and he feels his face warm. He goes inside his apartment and closes the door, locking it behind him. He decides to avoid dissecting why a simple peck from his neighbour made him feel this giddy for another day and decides to just revel in feeling like a high schooler who just got noticed by their crush for the fist time as he helps Changkyun get ready for bed. 

And soon enough, Kihyun too, is falling asleep with the thoughts of honey brown eyes, cozy warmth and gentle kisses lulling him to sleep. He does, in fact, have very sweet dreams.


	6. Chapter 6

Halloween is upon them faster than Kihyun can blink. It’s about 4:00 in the evening and Kihyun has probably stabbed himself with a sewing needle over a hundred times as he tries to put the finishing touches on Changkyun’s costume. The six year old decided that he wanted to be a rabbit vampire after Hyunwon showed the class Bunnicula. He’s attempting to sew a fluffy little cotton tail onto the back of Changkyun’s pants while the little boy sprints around the room in a t-shirt and his underwear, bunny ear headband slipping off the back of his head. 

He finally gets the tail secured and he helps Changkyun slip the little black suit pants on. It takes a good ten minutes because of how much he’s squirming. Then off come the ears and on goes a white button up, tucked into the pants and a deep crimson cape tied around his neck. Kihyun bribes Changkyun with a lollipop so that he’ll stay still and he can grab an eyeliner pencil and draw a little black triangle and the tip of the boy’s nose, accompanied by three whiskers on each cheek.

Kihyun hands the bunny ears back to Changkyun who slips them haphazardly onto his head before sprinting around the room a couple times. Kihyun sighs. At this rate Changkyun is gonna be exhausted before the even start trick-or-treating.

“Hey, honey bee?” Changkyun stops his running and looks at Kihyun, panting a little.

“Do you want to go to your room and grab the pillow case I laid out for you? Then we can get going.”

“YEAAAAAAAAAAAH!!” Changkyun shouts before dashing into his bedroom. Kihyun hopes his neighbours are all out of the building. 

Changkyun returns and Kihyun helps him put his shoes on before taking his hand and stepping outside their apartment. 

He lets go of Changkyun’s hand so that he can lock the door behind him.

“HOSEOK!” the boy shouts and he’s dashing down the hall toward Hoseok’s apartment. 

“WOW. Are you a vampire?How’d you get your eyes to do that? You’re hair looks really different too.” Kihyun can hear Hoseok’s rumbling chuckle as Changkyun berates him with questions. He finishes locking the door before turning to save Hoseok from his tornado of a child and once again he nearly stops in his tracks. He sees the man nearly every day and he can’t help but wonder when he’ll stop being so floored by how beautiful he is.

Hoseok does appear to be dressed as a vampire and his outfit looks remarkably similar to Changkyun’s in a lot of ways. Same white button up and back slacks the main difference being that where Changkyun’s clothes fit him well, with lots of room to move because he’s a child, Hoseok’s clothes are skin tight. Whenever Hoseok takes a larger than average breath the buttons on his shirt pull tight across his chest and like, holy shit. His pants cling to his thighs and probably his ass as well and Kihyun prays to every god he can think of that Hoseok doesn’t turn around. The last thing he needs is to pop a boner in front of a six year old. 

And it’s not just Hoseok’s body in those clothes that has Kihyun shaken. Hoseok apparently decided to dye his hair black since the last time they saw each other, which was like two days ago. It’s slicked backward, away from his face and the sides are shaved down quite short. He has contacts in that make his eyes a pale cloudy gold with streaks of red radiating out from the pupil. His eyes are lined with smudged out black making his eye lashes look thicker and darker than ever. 

Kihyun has been taking in every detail of the way Hoseok looks but he cant’ help that his gaze gets kind of stuck on Hoseoks mouth. 

His lips are dark crimson on the inside, fading out to his natural rosy pink, like he’s been sucking on a cherry lollipop. And then Hoseok smiles at Changkyun and Kihyun sees the white pointed caps on his eye teeth that get caught on his bottom lip, pulling it into his mouth before it slips back into place.

Kihyun is kinda dazed, just staring at Hoseok’s mouth as the man gets closer and closer.

“Nice ears.” Hoseok says, snapping Kihyun out of his trance. He’s standing right in front of Kihyun now and wow, how did he get so close without Kihyun noticing? He’s holding Changkyun’s hand and the six year old has a full sized Snickers in the other. 

“Thanks.” Kihyun responds, lifting his hand to stroke the ears on his own head. When he found out that a big group of people from Changkyun’s class were going trick-or-treating together he had gone out and bout a cheap pair of black cat ears from a costume store so that he wouldn’t feel out of place. He’d even drawn the same whiskers and triangle nose on his own face. 

“Look at what Hoseok gave me!” Changkyun says, thrusting the Snickers toward Kihyun’s face. 

“I hope that’s okay.” Hoseok says with an apologetic smile. 

“That’s very kind of him, don’t you think?” Kihyun says to the child. “Did you say thank you?” 

Changkyun drops Hoseok’s hand and throws his arms around his legs, squeezing tightly.

“Thank you, thank you, _thank you_ , Hoseok. You’re the best!” Hoseok raises an eyebrow.

“The best, huh?” He asks. Changkyun looks at Kihyun whose smiling at the two of them

“Well, maybe second best.” Changkyun giggles before detaching himself from Hoseok and taking Kihyun’s hand. Kihyun helps Changkyun open his pillow case to put the chocolate bar inside. 

“I agree.” Hoseok says with a smirk. Kihyun blushes.

“Are you heading out?” He asks, trying to draw attention to a different topic.

“Yeah, one of the other tattoo artists at my shop is throwing a costume party and I’m obligated to make an appearance. What about you? Just the two of you trick-or-treating?”

“No. We’re meeting up with a bunch of kids from Changkyun’s class and their parents and then we’re all going together.”

“Sounds fun!” Hoseok says as they start heading down stairs to the front of the building. Kihyun notices that there is a sleek, black car parked in front of their building with a guy that looks like a teddy bear and appears to be dressed is a cop sitting in the drivers seat. 

“That’s my ride. Be safe out there tonight and good luck!” Hoseok ruffles the front of Changkyun’s hair, careful not to mess up the rabbit ears. Then he turns to Kihyun.

“Seriously, stay safe. Are you sure you’re gonna be warm enough?” He says taking Kihyun’s hand in his. 

“We’ll be fine.” Kihyun says with a smile, squeezing Hoseok’s hand gently. 

“Okay.” And Hoseok leans into Kihyun’s space and presses a quick, chaste kiss to his cheek before he’s letting go of Kihyun’s hand and jogging towards the car. Kihyun isn’t even subtle in staring at his ass as he goes.

Kihyun and Chagnkyun get to the school to meet up with their group. Changkyun goes to burn off some energy with his friends and Kihyun starts chatting with some of the other parents. Soon, the woman who asked if Kihyun wanted a tattoo at the parent appreciation tea taps him on the shoulder. 

“Sorry to interrupt but , Kihyun, you have lipstick on your cheek.” She says with a knowing smile. Kihyun blushes and covers his cheek with his hand. The woman offers him her compact and he uses the little mirror to examine his cheek. 

Sure enough theres a little red mark on his cheek where Hoseok kissed him. He rubs it off with the heel of his hand but his cheek feels warm and tingly for the whole night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! probably about one more chapter after this one! i'm so glad everyone has been enjoying it and all the feed back is wonderful. I hope you enjoy this chapter too! :)

“Kihyuuuuuuuun… You haven’t been out with us for ages!” 

Minhyuk and Kihyun were currently standing outside of the daycare while Changkyun ran around, saying goodbye to all the other kids. Minhyuk was currently trying desperately to convince Kihyun to come out clubbing with him the next night.

“I don’t know… Its a little short notice to be hiring a babysitter…”

“What a bout your neighbour? He and Changkyun get along well.”

“Hoseok? No, he works late on Saturdays.”

“Come on, Ki. It’s my birthday after all.” Minhyuk pouts and whines, worse than the kids he takes care of. It’s different for him, though. At five o’clock all the parents come by and pick their kids up and he can just go home and relax for the evening or go out. Kihyun doesn’t really have that luxury. Not that he’s complaining. That’s life, he supposes. You have to sacrifice some things for the wellbeing of others.

Still, he thinks, going out for one night couldn’t hurt.

“Okay, I’ll come. I’ll call up Changkyun’s old babysitter and see if she’s able to come look after him.”

“YES!! Oh my god, we are gonna have so much fun. Just you wait!”

 

Changkyun’s old babysitter is free to take care of him and she’s willing to stay the night so Kihyun doesn’t have to worry about being home till about noon the next day. He sets the alarm on his phone for ten in the morning so that he’ll have plenty of time to get home from Minhyuk’s where he plans to stay the night. 

He’s just tucking his loose tank top into the front of his jeans when there’s a knock on the door. He calls for Changkyun to come and say hello as he goes to open the door for the babysitter.

She’s not much younger than Kihyun, in her final year of high school. She’s got long, dark hair and warm amber eyes. She had stopped babysitting when she was old enough to get a job with proper wages and regularly scheduled hours instead of the frantic midnight calls and pocket change that she used to get from Kihyun. He may or may not be a little proud that when he hands her the money for the night it’s actually a living wage.

“Thank you so much for coming on kinda late notice.” He says as he leads her into the kitchen. Changkyun comes scampering out of his room stopping and hiding behind Kihyun’s legs. 

“It’s no problem Mr. Yoo. Changkyun’s a good kid.” She crouches down to the child’s level and gives a little wave.

“Changkyun you remember your babysitter right? Why don’t you say hi?”

Changkyun peeks his out from behind Kihyun. Recognition dawns on his face and he’s running up to hug the girl crouched on the floor. 

He pulls back and shouts, “I remember you!” Then he turns and looks up at Kihyun and says, very seriously, “This lady makes the bestest grilled cheese in the whole world.” He stands upon his tip toes and loudly whispers, “She even cuts them into little triangles.” like its some kind of conspiracy.

“Well, maybe, if you ask really nicely, she’ll make you grilled cheese for dinner.” Kihyun says ruffing Changkyun’s hair. 

“You still know where everything is?” He says to the babysitter. 

“If not you have my number. Feel free to give me a call no matter what time. Changkyun’s bedtime is around eight o’clock and he generally likes to be read a story before going to sleep but sometimes he’s too tired so you don’t have to worry about it. No more than two stories before bed though. And try and keep the snacking to a minimum and—“

“Mr. Yoo.” The girl interrupts him, slowly herding him toward the front door. 

“I’ve got this. I’ll call if I need anything.” She hands him his coat and ushers him out the door.

“Go and have some fun.” 

 

 

And fun he has. 

The thing about Minhyuk is that he instills Kihyun with this competitive need to match him drink for drink. The only problem with this, of course, is that Kihyun has a much lower alcohol tolerance that his friend. 

Kihyun is currently on the dance floor, jumping and swaying along with the undulating throng of bodies under the blue and purple lights that are simultaneously incredibly bright and yet reveal nothing. It’s hot and damp on the dance floor. A mixture of sweat, spit and alcohol floating, heavy in the air. There is a couple to his right making out and a group of about five girls to his left that look like they’re having the time of their lives. Minhyuk is in front of him, eyes bright despite having consumed just as much alcohol as Kihyun who was looking a little glassy eyed. 

The music continued to pound as the DJ announced that this would be the final song of the night. Kihyun could feel the beat pounding in his blood. It made his skin tingle as the crowd shouted along, barely intelligible through the heat and noise. 

Unfortunately, after all that fun there was the dreaded activity of waiting for a cab. It took about an hour but eventually a completely sober Minhyuk and an almost sober Kihyun got into a cab and headed home. Kihyun is staring at the window watching the streetlights pass overhead in stead increments. Far, far beyond all those lights he knows there is the faint flicker of stars crowding the sky. 

“Actually, Minhyuk I think I want to go to my apartment instead.” Minhyuk looks up at him in surprise.

“Are you sure? Changkyun is there—“

“No, no. Kyun is so great and I love him, like, so, so much but I don’t want to see him. I don’t want him to see me like this.” There is a moment of silence as Minhyuk tries to figure out what to tell their cab driver,

“I want to see Hoseok.” Kihyun says quietly. Minhyuk hears him and smirks to himself before telling the cab driver Kihyun’s building address. 

“Do you think he’ll even be awake?” He asks.

“Yeah. We text at night sometimes when I have the graveyard shift at the bakery. He pulls all nighters on Saturdays designing tattoos. He says that texting helps keep him awake.”

Minhyuk hums but doesn’t really say anything.

“I really like him, Minhyuk.”

Minhyuk smiles at him as he stares out the window, pale yellow street light flickering over his face in steady intervals. 

“I know.”

“He makes my blood feel like champagne.” Minhyuk laughs a little at how hopeless his best friend is. 

They pull up in front of Kihyun’s building and he gets out closing the door and waving goodbye. Minhyuk makes the taxi wait, seeing Kihyun fumble with his keys at the door. He waits until Kihyun is safely inside before allowing the driver to speed away towards his own house. 

Kihyun staggers up the stairs that he walks with Hoseok almost every day and before he knows it he’s knocking lightly on Hoseok’s door. 

There’s some shuffling around inside the apartment and then the door is being pulled open and Kihyun is confronted with a sleepy, messy looking Hoseok in a beyond baggie black sweater, a pair of soft looking sweatpants and bare feet. He’s also got a lollipop stick stuck between his lips and the actual candy is making his cheek bulge out a little on one side. Kihyun can tell it a red one by the way that its staining his lips. He thinks that if they kissed, Hoseok would probably taste like cherries. He feels the champagne begin bubbling in his blood.

“Kihyun?” Hoseok says, rubbing the palm of his hand over his eyes before squinting at his unexpected guest. “It’s nearly four in the morning. What are you doing here?” His voice is a little distorted by the lollipop stuffed in his cheek. Its cute. 

“Just wanted to talk.” Kihyun says, shrugging his shoulders. “Can I come in?”

Hoseok moves out of the way allowing Kihyun to enter his appartment. Kihyun settles himself down onto the couch but Hoseok doesn’t follow. He’s in the kitchen filling a glass of water up. He shakes some pills out of a bottle and then returns to the living room, plopping himself onto the couch before handing over both the water and the pills. 

“What did you want to talk about?” Hoseok asks. Kihyun just stares at the glass of water in his hands. 

“You’re so nice.” Kihyun says without any preamble. Hoseok chuckles a little.

“Thanks. I try.”

“Why? Why do you try so hard to be nice?”

“Its not hard really. Not most of the time. Not for you.” He lets the corners of his lips lift a little.

“ And, I don’t know. The stereotype of the big. mean, muscly, tattooed guy got really old, really fast. I wanted to prove to people that I was more than what I look like.”

There are a couple moments of silence. It seems like Hoseok is thinking and Kihyun doesn’t want to break that so he says nothing. 

“Maybe it has something to do with all those people who thought that I wasn’t worth their time as a kid. I feel like I need to prove them all wrong you know. Kind of in the same way you want to prove to everyone that you’re a good father. I mean, it’s different. Obviously, its different but I imagine it feels kind of the same. 

“You don’t have to worry so much about it. I mean, Changkyun thinks you’re pretty much perfect.”

“Well, I hate to disillusion him so young. I guess I’ll have to keep pretending.” Hoseok pulls the lollipop out of his mouth with a pop before pulling it back in between his lips, tongue darting out to wrap around the candy. 

“ Am I too young to be disillusioned? Because I think that you’re pretty much perfect, too.” Hoseok smiles at that, a faint blush creeping up his neck and over the bridge of his nose. 

“I’m so happy we’re friends.” Kihyun says looking Hoseok right in the eyes. He watches as the man sitting next to him struggles to keep the smile on his face steady. 

“I’m happy, too.” He says, but Kihyun doesn’t really believe him. He puts the glass of water and the pills on the side table by the couch and watches as Hoseok pulls the lollipop out from between his lips again, tongue darting out to lick over the hard candy. Kihyun wants nothing more in that moment than to kiss him. And he’s still a little drunk so he does. 

Unfortunately, he’s still a little drunk, so he misses Hoseok’s mouth and lands a clumsy kiss right by the upward curl at the corner of his lips. Hoseok jerks away from him in shock.

“Did you just try and kiss me?”

“Yeah, and if you would just stay still I could be doing a much better job of it.” Kihyun grumbles before grabbing either side of Hoseok’s face to hold him steady and lunges forward to push their lips together again. His forward momentum knocks Hoseok backward and he smacks his head on the arm of the couch. He groans in pain and Kihyun crawls forward, apologizing and trying to soothe the pain by running his fingers through Hoseok’s silky black locks.

Kihyun is practically lying on top of Hoseok now, his slender thighs nestled snugly between Hoseok’s thick, cotton clad ones. Kihyun is hovering over his neighbour, one hand in his hair, fingers tangled up, massaging his scalp. The other is keeping Kihyun from collapsing into Hoseok’s chest. Not that Kihyun would mind. 

“Hold on. Didn’t you just say that you were happy we’re friends?

“Yeah, and I am. That doesn’t mean that I don’t also want to kiss you, like, one hundred percent of the time.” Kihyun readjusts himself so that he’s resting on his elbows, bringing their faces significantly closer together. “I don’t see us being friends and us being lovers as two separate things. They’re not… uh…y’know?”

“Mutually exclusive?”

“Mutually exclusive! Thank you! See this is why I like you.”

“Is that the only reason?” Hoseok asks eyebrow raised and he has the audacity to slip that red lollipop back in between his plush, rosy lips. 

Kihyun pulls away a little in mock disgust but it’s really so that he can clear his mind. Being that close to Hoseok is making his head foggy.

“Of, course it isn’t. You’re so good with Changkyun. He really likes you. Did you know that he drew you as one of his heroes? He said that he wants to be like you because you make me happy.”

Hoseok only gets more surprise as Kihyun continues taking, eyebrow inching toward his hairline. 

“Do I?” Hoseok asks. “Do I really make you happy?”

“Of course. Of course you make me happy. More than that, you make me feel like it’s okay to let myself be loved. When I’m with you I feel safe. I feel loved.”

Hoseok smiles at Kihyun and gently strokes his cheek.

“What about you? What do you feel about me?”

Hoseok looks at him fondly and contemplatively, warm palm still resting against cheek, long fingers striking his temples.

“Ask me in the morning.”

“What!” Kihyun squawks. Hoseok giggles at that.

“Well, I’m not about to pour my heart out to someone whose drunk.” He pulls Kihyun down a little so that he can easily whisper in his ear. 

“I want to make sure you remember everything.” And Kihyun can hear the lollipop clacking against his teeth. He pushes Kihyun back a little.

“I’m not confessing to someone whose half drunk.” He says with a smirk. Kihyun really wants to wipe it off his face so he grabs the end of the lollipop, pulls it out of Hoseok’s mouth and tosses it somewhere over his shoulder before he dives down to press their lips together.

He aims correctly this time and it takes a moment for Hoseok to respond. When he does, though, its glorious and his lips slide against Kihyun’s teasingly. Its gentle and Hoseok’s lips are so soft and Kihyun’s trying to press a little harder, to get a little more. Still, he’s wholly unprepared when Hoseok’s tongue darts out and licks a the seem of his lips. He parts them and Hoseok’s tongue is warm and sweet and Kihyun had been right. He does taste like cherries but there’s also something so much more. 

Hoseok pulls away and they’re both panting a little. He leans up and presses one last closed mouth kiss to Kihyun’s lips. 

“You’re literal satan, you know?” Kihyun says burying his face into Hoseok’s chest. He just grins and pats Kihyun on the back. 

“Come on, you can sleep in my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.” Hoseok says trying to sit up. Kihyun just clings tightly to his chest, refusing to let him move.

“Alternatively, we could just stay here.” Hoseok sighs, but he’s smiling so Kihyun doesn’t feel too bad. 

“At least drink your water. I’ll go get some blankets.” Kihyun begrudgingly pulls himself up and picks his glass up from the floor. He shudders when Hoseok’s warmth leaves his side and downs the glass as quickly as he can. Hoseok returns with the warmest looking blanket Kihyun had ever seen. It is November now and even the air inside the apartment is cold. 

When Hoseok sits down Kihyun immediately returns to his spot against his chest. Hoseok leans back, pulling Kihyun with him, and he wiggles down the couch a little to get comfortable. Kihyun buries his face in Hoseok’s neck, rubbing his nose against the warmth breathing in deeply.

Contrary to Kihyun, who probably smells like smoke and alcohol mixed with his sweat and the sweat of strangers, Hoseok smells good. Like really good. He kind of gets why Changkyun was sleeping like this when he’d come to pick him up that one night. It’s warm and sweet, like cinnamon and wood fires in the winter and as he slides his fingers through Kihyun’s hair, letting them rest against the nape of his neck, he can’t help but sigh into his skin and snuggle closer. 

“You know, Changkyun is one of the best things that ever happened to me.” Kihyun says, his words muffled, lips brushing against Hoseok’s neck. “But I think you’re the best thing that has ever happened to us.” 

There’s a long beat of silence and Kihyun is so close to slipping into sleep. He feels Hoseok nuzzle his cheek against Kihyun’s own. He feels Hoseok take a deep shuddering breath and he belatedly realizes that he’s crying. Kihyun lifts his head and looks at the man underneath him. 

Hoseok looks back at him, eyes watery but he’s got the biggest smile that Kihyun has oversee plastered on his face. Kihyun presses a kiss to both cheeks and wipes the corners of Hoseok’s eyes with his thumbs.

“Come on. Let’s go to sleep.” 

And they fall asleep snuggled up together on the couch tucked under the warmest blanket Kihyun has ever seen. Chest pressed to chest, arms wrapped around each other. Kihyun’s face buried in Hoseok’s neck, Hoseok’s cheek resting against Kihyun’s temples. Neither have ever been happier.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done! Thankd you to everyone who took the time to read this story and thank you all for the lovely comments. It's been a pleasure reading them and getting feed back. I really hope that you enjoyed and fret not! I will e writing more monsta x fics in the future and more fics in general. Till the next one! <3

The first thing Kihyun notices when he wakes up is that he is so, so warm. The cozy kind where you’re a little sweaty but you just don’t care because your comfortable. He curls into the warmth as best as he can snuggling his face into the crevice between the back of the couch and the warmth underneath him. He shifts his legs a little and feels the rough denim scratch against him. He’s still wearing his shoes as well. He lifts his head and blinks his eyes blearily at the morning sun streaming through the window. Slowly he begins to recollect the events of the night before. The club, the cab ride, coming to Hoseok’s place, the kiss… Oh god the kiss… and then falling asleep together on the couch. 

He looks down at Hoseok’s sleeping form beneath him. Dark eyelashes fanning out over soft, heat blushed cheeks. Pink, sleep swollen lips parted in a soft sigh as he inches towards consciousness. 

Kihyun can’t help but reach up to brush his hands through Hoseok’s sleep mussed hair. It’s soft and silken and slides between his finger with ease. He continues to card his fingers through Hoseok’s hair entranced in watching it slide through his fingers, catching the soft morning light. 

Hoseok’s eyelids begin to flutter open, fighting off the sleep that threatens to pull him back under. His eyes focus on Kihyun whose still petting his hair intently. Kihyun feels his gaze and locks eyes with the man underneath him. Hoseok lips curl upward into a delicate smile. Soft and warm just like the sunlight that spills across his face. 

“Good morning.” Hoseok says, his voice raspy and sleep worn. He stretches his arms out grunting a little as his joints pop. Then he lets his hand rest on Kihyun waist over the blanket.

“Good morning. Do you have to work today.” Kihyun asks, hands still tangled in Hoseok’s hair, finger tips rubbing his scalp gently. Hoseok hums. His eyes close and the corners of his lips turn up in contentment. 

“Yeah, but not until later. I just have some designs I want to take in and I have an appointment just after three.”

Kihyun hums to indicate that he’s listening. He scrapes his nails gently across Hoseok’s scalp causing the man to jerk away violently nearly smacking his face into Kihyun’s. 

Kihyun chuckles and Hoseok whines so he goes back to letting the hair slip in between his fingers over and over again.

“What about you?” Hoseok asks, eyes closed again letting the feeling of fingers through his hair soothe him into a quiet drowsiness. 

“Yeah. I have to go in around the same time. I have to leave earlier though so I can take Kyun over to Minhyuk’s day care.”

“We should probably get up then.” Hoseok says and Kihyun groans, letting his head drop down onto Hoseok chest, nuzzling his face into his sternum. 

He feels Hoseok’s arm wrap around his waist and all of a sudden he’s being flipped over so he’s lying on the couch on his back with Hoseok hovering over him. He looks up at Hoseok whose smiling down at him, his arms braced on either side of Kihyun’s head. He feels his heart pick up speed and his cheeks flood with colour. 

Hoseok leans down and presses chaste, fluttering kisses all over his face. He covers his cheeks, his forehead, his nose and down to his neck. He nibbles at the underside of Kihyun’s jaw causing him to lift his head exposing more of his neck. Hoseok kisses down the column of his throat till he reaches his collar bones. There he bites harder, nibbling and sucking with the clear intention of leaving a mark.

Kihyun’s eyes flutter closed at the sensation and his breathing gets a little shallower especially when he feels one of Hoseok’s hands smooth down his side and up under his shirt to rest on his waist. His hands are warm but they still send shivers up Kihyun’s spine. 

Hoseok pulls away when he’s satisfied with his work. There is a bright red mark on Kihyun’s collar bone, accompanied by little teeth marks and a fair amount of saliva. It’s already turning purply in the centre and Hoseok looks immensely proud of himself. He leans forward once more to press a soft, closed mouth kiss to Kihyun’s lips. The man in question is beyond dazed, just looking at Hoseok as he clambers off the couch stretching his back and arms, sinewy muscle shifting under his t-shirt from the night before. 

“I’m going to shower so you can have a couple more minutes to sleep.” He says. And before Kihyun can say anything Hoseok is lifting his shirt up and over his head exposing miles and miles of soft looking skin stretched over well developed muscles. 

Kihyun had kind of assumed that Hoseok had fairly well defined muscles based on what could be seen under his workout gear and his everyday clothes but he’s never seen him completely shirtless before. 

His hips are narrow and his shoulders are broad, but that Kihyun already knew. He didn’t know how soft his skin would look even stretched over muscle. He didn’t know that under t-shirts and hoodies was a taut stomach and well defined chest. He didn’t know that Hoseok’s tattoos leaked over onto his chest, little petals twisting in an imaginary wind, the last petal reaching just past the centre of his chest. He didn’t know that Hoseok would literally look like Captain America with his shirt off. 

Kihyun knows that he’s staring and he doesn’t care. Hoseok smirks at him and before turning and grabbing a towel from the hall closet giving Kihyun a wonderful view of his bare back, flawless as well, of course with a deep valley down his spine. The tattoo’s continue there as well, twisting across his shoulder blade and down toward the top of his pants. 

Hoseok finally disappears into the bathroom, allowing Kihyun to relax. How on earth is he supposed to fall back asleep after that? It occurs to him that this could have been Hoseok’s original intention but Kihyun just closes his eyes and tries to commit the image to memory. 

He pressed his fingers into the mark that Hoseok left. It still stings a little, but it feels nice. Kihyun decides that its not exactly fair that Hoseok got to mark him but he didn’t get to mark him. He vows that one day he’ll return the favour. 

When Hoseok reappears he’s wearing jeans and he’s sliding a black sweater over his head, hair still a little wet from the shower. Kihyun is sitting up on the couch scrolling though his phone, looking at all the pictures he and Minhyuk had taken the night before. He shakes his head at his past self whose kissing Minhyuk on the cheek. 

Hoseok plops himself down on the couch beside Kihyun. 

“Do you want breakfast or something?”

“No, that’s okay. I have to make pancakes for Changkyun. It’s a Sunday tradition.” Kihyun says with a smile. He loves Sundays. They’re usually his day off so he gets the whole day to hang out with Changkyun doing whatever they want.

“But you could come over and eat with us if you want to. We always have plenty of food left over and it would be a shame to let it go to waste.” Hoseok smiles and its dazzling, as always.

“That would be nice.”

So the two of them head over to Kihyun’s apartment. It isn’t even ten o’clock yet so Kihyun is home about two hours before he was expecting to be. Luckily, Changkyun will already be awake and so will his babysitter so he doesn’t have to worry about that. The babysitter shakes hands with Hoseok, nervously introducing herself. Hoseok is charming, as always, as he introduces himself. The babysitter tries to give Kihyun some of the money back because he’s home so early but he refuses. He tells her that it’s payback for all the money he owes her from when he couldn’t pay her properly. She sees that there’s now way he’s going to let her give the money back she pockets it before forming Kihyun that Changkyun is in his room. Apparently he’s working on a drawing for Mr. Chae to put up in the classroom. 

She leaves, insisting that she doesn’t need a ride home and Kihyun goes to check on Changkyun. 

He is, indeed, working on a drawing. It appears to be the two of them, himself and Kihyun standing in a field of happy flowers. He appears to be working on a third figure.

“Whatcha drawing?” Kihyun asks from over Changkyun’s shoulder. 

Changkyun spins around.

“KIHYUN!!” he shouts before launching himself off his chair and into Kihyun’s arms. He spins around once before setting the giggling six year old down on the ground. You would think Kihyun had been gone for at least a week instead of just one night.

Changkyun tugs his hand so that Kihyun follows him back over to the desk where the drawing sits. He points out each of the parts as he explains the picture.

“This is me,” He points to the little figure that is about half the height of the other two, “And this ones you.” the middle height one with brownish red hair, “And this one is going to be Hoseok!” He points to the tallest figure with black hair. This ones only half finished. 

“All the flowers are smiling because we’re all happy. Even the sun is happy we’re happy.” And sure enough the bright yellow circle in the upper corner of the page is smiling down at the figures. Kihyun hears Hoseok chuckle from where he’s leaning against the door frame. 

Changkyun evidently hears as well because his head snaps toward the door.

“HOSEOK!!” and he leaps of the chair again sprinting across the room and crashing into Hoseok’s legs, nearly knocking him to the floor.

“What is it with you two always knocking me over!” Hoseok exclaims, smirking at Kihyun over Changkyun’s head. Unfortunately, Kihyun remembers his second attempt at kissing Hoseok the night before when he nearly gave him a concussion on the arm of the couch.

“Alright, alright,” Kihyun huffs. “Honey bee, why don’t you play with Hoseok while I go have a shower and change. Then we can make pancakes.”

“YES! PANCAAAAAAAAAAKES!” Changkyun yells, jumping up and down while still clinging to Hoseok’s legs. A rather impressive feat if Kihyun does say so himself. 

“Good luck.” Kihyun says as he slips past Hoseok and toward his own room together what he’ll need for the shower. 

When he returns, hair and body washed, teeth brushed, the whole nine yards he’s greeted with a situation that he remembers fondly. 

Hoseok is lying on his back on Changkyun’s bed and Changkyun has pulled his desk chair up to the side of the bed. Hoseok’s tattooed arm is draped across the kids lap and there is a big box of markers sitting on Hoseok’s stomach. 

“Please pass the purple, Hoseok.” Changkyun asks holding a red marker out towards the man lying on his bed. Hoseok takes the red one and asks,

“Which purple would you like, kiddo? Purple mountains majesty or grape jam?”

“Purple mountains majesty, please.”

Hoseok hands over a soft purple marker and Chankgyun takes it, leaning over Hoseok’s arm, colouring intently. Kihyun sneaks closer and quietly sits on the bed by Hoseok’s hip. Hoseok’s tattoo’s are almost completely filled in. Chankgyun is currently working on a cluster of wildflowers inked into the inside of Hoseok’s forearm. The six year old has clearly been very careful in colouring inside the lines. He’s even been careful to make sure all of the colours flow nicely together. Pink flowers are close to red ones which are close to orange ones and so on and so forth. He hates to interrupt but they really need to start breakfast if Kihyun wants to get to work on time and he know Changkyun will be upset if he can’t help make the pancakes. 

“Changkyun, we need to start the pancakes if we want to get you to daycare on time.”

“Why can’t Hoseok look after me? We had so much fun the last time! He showed me all his drawings and everything. Did you know that he’s a really good drawer? Well, he is. And, did you know that he’s working on a tattoo for you? It’s really pretty but he said that I’m not allowed to tell you about it because he doesn’t want you to get scared. You wouldn’t get scared though would you, Kihyun? You’re way to brave to be scared.” Kihyun kind of tunes Changkyun out after the revelation that Hoseok has been working on a tattoo design specifically for him.

“Honey bee, why don’t you go get the ingredients for the pancakes and put them out on the counter.”

“Okay!!” and Changkyun dashes out of the room toward the kitchen.

“Be careful with the eggs!” Kihyun calls after the rambunctious kid. 

Hoseok has been lying very still on the bed eyes closed and breathing even.

“Hoseok?” Kihyun asks

“Shhhhhhh. I’m asleep.” Hoseok whispers, very clearly not asleep. 

“Are you really designing a tattoo for me?” Hose opens his eyes and lets out a world wearied sigh. 

“See, this is why you don’t tell kids anything.” Kihyun raises an eyebrow at his neighbour. Hoseok shifts so his back is leaning against the head board.

“Yeah, I am. Or, well, I was. It’s been done since just before Halloween.” Kihyun raises his eyebrows.

“When did you start it?” Hoseok hums, thinking.

“When we got home from the parent tea, I think?” 

“Where you ever going to tell me about it?”

“I mean, probably not. It’s not like I actually expect you to get the tattoo but when you mentioned that you had been thinking about it I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of tattoo you would get and if you’d let me tattoo you, if you’d get one of my designs. And then I found myself looking through old designs. Looking for something that would suit you. I knew it had to be delicate line and dot work, something light. Nothing too blocky. The more I looked through my designs the more I realized exactly the kind of tattoo that would suit you and I knew that I had never designed anything like it before. So I got to work. I must’ve scrapped a thousand drawings over the course of about three weeks. And even though I knew that you’d probably never see it, I wanted it to be perfect.”

“Can I see it?” Kihyun asks. He feels like his lungs are filled with helium, forcing all the oxygen out, making him light headed and buoyant. His heart is racing. Hoseok nods his head a little reluctantly before he gets out of the bed and heads toward the door. He hears Hoseok say something to Changkyun whose still in the kitchen before hearing the front door open and close. He waits in silence for a few minutes that seem to stretch on and on before the front door opens and closes once more. Then Hoseok reappears at Changkyun’s bedroom door, nervously clutching his sketchbook in his hands. 

Kihyun offers a small smile in order to try and ease some of Hoseok’s nerves but, hell, he’s nervous too. Hoseok designed a tattoo for him. Something that he himself wanted to ink into Kihyun’s skin. It meant something to Hoseok and he was hoping desperately that it would mean something to Kihyun as well. He pats the bed beside him to get Hoseok to come and sit down instead of hovering by the door.

“Uum, it’s not very good. And I still need to do some refining and everything and I won’t really know if it looks good until I do a preliminary ink run and—“

“Hoseok?”

“Yeah?”

“I like you. A whole lot. This tattoo design isn’t gonna make me stop liking you. I’m already swept away by the fact that you took time out of your life to design this, okay?”

Hoseok is quiet, his breathing is shallow and his hands are shaking a little. He breathes deeply in through his nose and out through his mouth.

“Okay.” And he opens the sketch book, turning it towards Kihyun.

Kihyun is completely speechless. The tattoo is simple and elegant while still looking contemporary. 

It’s a dandelion, for all intents and purposes, but its so much more. It’s made from soft, delicate black lines and dots, a couple of the little petals are blowing away in and imaginary wind and there is a splash of what looks to be golden yellow water colour paint over the flower of the plant, It’s reminiscent of Hoseok’s own tattoos but unique in it’s own way especially with the addition of the colour spilling out across the lines.

“They’re supposed to mean something about resilience and cheerfulness, or something. I just thought that it was fitting for you. I know it’s not the best and I’m not too happy with the colour but I—“

“It’s beautiful.”

“You don’t have to say that.”

“I’m serious, Hoseok. I want this. When can I go in for an appointment?”

“What? Are you serious?” 

“Yes. One hundred percent. It’s so beautiful and the meaning is wonderful. A reminder to stay strong no matter what difficulties may come my way. It only means more because you designed it with me in mind.” Kihyun takes the sketchbook out of Hoseok’s shaking hands and places it on the bed beside him. Then he takes Hoseok’s hands in his own and looks him in the eyes. There is no trace of his confidence from earlier in the morning, only nervous energy holding his body tight and tense. 

“Okay, um, well, we have a spot this evening or if you need more time to think about it I can look through my books and we can set a date in a couple months and then you can change your mind if you want—“ Kihyun can feel Hoseok’s hands twitching in his and the anxiety rolling off him in waves. He lifts a hand and places it on his neighbours cheek, pressing their lips together softly. 

The kiss is chaste and delicate but Kihyun feels Hoseok relax into it, tension bleeding out of him as he brings his hands up to the nape of Kihyun’s neck. He pulls away, but keeps their faces close, foreheads and noses brushing overtime one of them moves even the slightest bit.

“This evening sounds good.” And Hoseok sighs out a little laugh.

“Okay.” He says pulling Kihyun back into another soft kiss. He pulls away and looks Kihyun right in the eyes.

“I like you. A lot. And it’s kinda scary because I’m not very good at this.” He brushes some of the hair out of Kihyun’s eyes. “Hell, the last serious relationship I had was back in high school. And he walked out on me after calling me emotionally distant and saying that he would be surprised if I every really loved him at all. I did. I just didn’t really know how to show him. And now there’s Changkyun as well and I’d rather die than hurt him. Either of you. But I’m afraid that it won’t matter and that I’ll hurt you by accident and then you’ll hate me. I don’t know what I’d do if you hated me, Kihyun.”

He looks at the man sitting in front of him, so unbelievably nervous, confessing after about three months of dancing around there feelings and Kihyun gets a little scared himself because he thinks that he might already be a little bit in love. He won’t say anything about it for now, but deep down, he knows. 

“I feel like I’ve already made it pretty clear that I like you a whole lot as well. But don’t worry so much about not being good at this. I wasn’t good at being a parent at first, but I got better. You probably weren’t as amazing an artist as you are right now when you were younger, but you practised and you got better. Relationships aren’t too different. And if I’m being perfectly honest, it’s been a long time since I dated anyone as well. So, it’s okay. We can figure this out together if you want.”

The smile that Hoseok gives him is a little watery, but just as bright as always, his cheeks pushing his eyes into tiny crescents. 

“I want.” He says, and he leans forward to kiss Kihyun again, barely able to because he can’t stop smiling. Kihyun’s not much better though. 

Then all of a sudden the hear a crash from the kitchen and they break apart both standing quickly and rush out of the room.

“Changkyun!” They both call, rushing into the kitchen. 

Changkyun is sitting on the floor tupperware container about half his size labeled ‘flour’ sits upturned on the floor a few feet away. The tile itself is completely coated in fine white powder and so is Changkyun.

The child in question looks up at Kihyun and Hoseok as they enter the kitchen and smiles innocently. 

“Looks like we’re gonna have to skip pancakes this morning.” Kihyun says and Changkyun starts to pout. Kihyun turns to make his way to the cupboard where they keep the broom. Hoseok grabs his hand to stop him.

“Leave it for now. Let me grab Apollo and we can go out for breakfast. My treat.” Hoseok says with a smile. Kihyun smiles back.

“Okay. I’ll help Changkyun change and we can go.”

So they go out for breakfast, two men, a six year old and a puppy. The cafe is quiet and rain patters against the pavement outside. Kihyun doesn’t let of Hoseok’s hand. When it’s finally time for them to part so Kihyun can drop Changkyun off at the daycare before work, Hoseok pulls him aside while Changkyun plays with Apollo.

“So, I’ll see you at my shop at around eight?” He asks with a nervous smile. 

“Absolutely.”

“And I was just thinking, maybe after we could go see a movie or something? Pick up Changkyun and see that new animated one?”

“It’s a little late for Changkyun to be up on a school night,” Kihyun says and Hoseok looks a little disheartened. “But, you can come back to my place and we can put Kyun to bed, watch some piece of garbage movie that neither of us really care about and make out on the couch until we fall asleep?”

Hoseok chuckles and it crinkles his eyes. 

“Sounds good. I guess we can take Changkyun out another night.” 

“Absolutely.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you would like, you can come scream with or at me here! www.thegarbagecan.tumblr.com


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